A Game of Love
by BookNerd2918
Summary: AU Percy Jackson, an 18 year old swimmer, is about to leave for the 2016 Summer Olympics. What will happen when he meets Annabeth Chase, an Olympic gymnast? Watch Percy and his friends as they embark to Rio, a trip that may possibly change the way he feels about love. Non-demigods
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey guys! This idea is one that i am quite fond of... It's Annabeth and Percy as Olympic athletes. Yeah, yeah. Another AU story. But no need to worry; I should be uploading Camp Half-Blood one-shots soon. R&R! And also big thank to my Beta; bluester07.**

**Disclimer: Much to my dismay, I DO NOT own PJO. Trust me, I wish I did. **

Percy's POV

"Jackson! Do you want to win gold or bronze? Give it all you got!" My coach yells.

I take a deep breath, throw my arms out in front of me, and leap off of the diving block. My mind slowly begins to clear as I shoot through the cool water. I surface every now and then, gulping all the air I can get, then plow on.

From the age of 5, swimming has been all I have. Maybe it's the feel of the cool water against my skin as I swim. Maybe it's the feeling of being infinite, as I race against the tides I create. Whatever it is, it clears all thought from my mind, all my stress fading away. The only problem is, when you're competing in the Olympics, the non-stop training and constant yelling actually _causes_ stress.

When I reach the other side of the pool lane, I flip around and press my feet against the cool tile, shooting off to the other end. I can occasionally hear Coach encouraging me. Well, really, it's not so much supporting as it is yelling. I don't mind, though, because when I get angry, I swim faster. I reach the other side and come to a stop, pulling myself out of the water. I grab my white towel and dry my mop of messy, black hair. Zoning out, I look through the large windows, staring out into the horizon, while Poseidon lectures me. Poseidon isn't my coach's real name, but we call him that because he's pretty amazing in the water. You could even say he's god-like. We train in Colorado Springs because the altitude makes us stronger. Sometimes, the views of the mountains are distracting, but most of the time, they just make me miss my mom, Sally Jackson, who lives in New York.

"Jackson!" Coach snaps. "Did you even hear what I just said?"

"Yeah, Coach. I heard you." I say meekly. A boy can miss his mom every once in a while, right? Apparently not.

"Look, Percy," Poseidon put a hand on my shoulder. "I've watched you swim your whole life. You didn't ask me to be you trainer for nothing! I know Grover isn't here, but you gotta get your head in the game, no exceptions. If there's anything distracting you, toss it out the window. We're leaving for Rio in a week. Be grateful that you even get to _go_ to the Olympics. The hard work, the training, it'll all pay off in the end. And when your events are over, there's the hot gymnastic chicks to look forward to," Coach jokes. "I hear they like swimmers.

"Now, good effort, kid. See you on Wednesday." With that, he turns around and walks into his office.

I'm left alone to think, but the one thing running through my mind is, _Oh, god... Oh, god, what have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

Annabeth's POV

_Breathe, Annabeth, breathe_, I tell myself, as I stand ready on the mats. I start at a jog, then sprint, bounding across the floor. As I near the bars, I leap into the air grabbing hold of the strong wood. Suddenly, all my worries go away as I fling myself off the bar and grab onto a higher one. I can hear coach giving me pointers, egging me on while I perform a series of flips and turns, moving gracefully through my routine. After being in the air for what feels like an eternity, I swing forward and let go, finishing with a perfect landing. That is, until I lose my balance and have to stick my left foot out.

"Darn it!" I yell in frustration, kicking the mat.

"Annabeth, calm down," Chiron consoles. "You're probably just nervous. You and Thalia know what you're doing. You _will_ win. Just stick with what you know how to do, and you'll be fine."

Chiron's been like a father to me for as long as I can remember, and now, he's my gymnastics trainer. And when I say gymnastics, I don't mean cartwheels and "roly-polies". In a weeks' time, I'll be in Rio for the Olympic Games. A lot of hard work and effort goes into the preparation.

As Chiron starts talking about practicing and focusing, I'm distracted (how ironic?). I can see Thalia, another competitor on my team, in the window to the locker room, making funny faces. _Hmm, her training ended... what, 3 hours ago?_ I think. My annoyance must show on my face because she gives me a thumbs up and a big, mischievous smile. _Ugh, Thalia!_ I hate it when she stays to watch me, and she know this, too. But that doesn't stop her from doing it anyway.

I'm snapped back into reality when Chiron speaks a little louder, right near my ear, using his I-know-you're-not-listening tone.

"Come on, Annabeth. You need to focus if you want to know how to do better," he says, his face a mask of disappointment.

I decide to take the blame for not listening and let Thalia off the hook.

"Sorry," I tell him. "My nerves are a little high-strung, you know? With the pressure of Rio in a week and not making a mistake and all, well... I'm just nervous, I guess."

* * *

I slam my gym locker shut and turn around. Thalia grabs my bag and meekly holds out her hand, giving me a small smile. As much as she gets on my nerves (all the time), I'm grateful that she's put up with me. I sometimes forget how much I need Thalia as a friend, how great she is to me. I used to be jealous of how tough she could be all the time. But don't let that fool you. It has taken me a while to notice, but she's secretly scared. And stressed, but who isn't right now?

I look up and glare at her.

"Annabeth, I know you're worried - I am, too - but you can do _so_ much better then that little performance out there today! Suck it up!" She yells, but smirks to let me know this is her way of showing she cares. "Now let's go to Starbucks, God damn it!"

"Okay, okay! Jeez, you're tough."

"Come on, Annie, you should know by now that I'm the only person immune to your little death glares."

We reach the door and step out onto the pavement. I take in a breath of blistering hot air and look up into the sky. _Oh, this week should be fun._

The drive zooms by as Thalia and I chat. Neither of us has mentioned the topic that's been sneaking up on us for a year now. Finally, I bring it up.

"So... . The Olympics. How about it?" I ask awkwardly.

We walk into the store and towards the cashier.

"I'll take a tall vanilla bean frappuccino and she'll take an iced passion tea unsweetened. Under the name Annabeth. Thanks," Thalia orders the usual and we sit at a table.

"Well, Annie, I think it'll be a heck of a lot of fun. What do you say?" She asks, answering my question mischievously.

"Heck-to-the-yeah it will," I say.

_Oh god_, I think, _I hope she couldn't hear the doubt in my voice... What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I live in Colorado and there is an Olympic training center out in Colorado Springs.**


	2. Chapter 2

Percy's POV

"Percy! If you don't get up right now, I will personally come up and drag your sorry ass out of bed!" Nico, my roommate and (very annoying) friend, yells up the stairs.

I peel my eyes open, still heavy with sleep, and find my brain only able to process, _Ugh, adhsdhaohjd_. I glance at the clock, the florescent light blaring harshly in my eyes. When I see the flashing digits, I jump out of bed, flustered. It's 5:25am.

I never usually see this time of day, but unfortunately, when Coach bought our tickets to Rio, he decided to book the flight that leaves at 7:00. In the morning.

While I hastily pull on my custom USA sweats, I yell down the stairs, "Nico, make me some oatmeal!"

"No!"

"Fine. Then get me some cereal!" I command.

I can practically see Nico rolling his eyes.

I grab my bags and run down the stairs, tripping and falling the whole way down. _Damn_, I think, _what did I pack in here?_ Thank God I live with Nico, though. Being the idiot I am, I would've probably slept well past the hour and missed my flight. As I turn into the kitchen, Nico grunts and hands me a bowl of _Honey Nut Cheerios._

"Thanks, man. Are you ready to leave?" I ask, ignoring his impatient foot-tapping and bored expression. He's probably been waiting for me for at least half an hour now.

"Yeah, come on. Let's go pick up Grover and Leo."

As we drag ourselves into the garage I realize that we have to be at the airport in 30 minutes if we want to be there an hour before the flight. As I do the math in my head, I'm suddenly filled with anxiety. It's almost physically impossible to be at the airport on time because we live around 40 minutes away.

Grover and Leo come running out as we pull up in front of their apartment building.

"Hey, guys. You planning on booking it? 'Cause we're probably going to be late," Grover points out as they scramble into the car.

28 minutes and one of the scariest car rides of my life later, we pull into the parking lot. All fout of us quickly grab our stuff and sprint towards the building. We burst through the doors and run towards the signs that point us towards Southwest Airlines. We quickly hand in our luggage and check in. Dashing through security, I imagine how we must look. It's most likely a pretty comical sight. I mean, four teenage boys, bursting through the airport, all sporting team USA gear. This is it, America. Your beloved swim team!

We make it through security and slow down as we reach our gate. We stop by the airport stores to buy some snacks and things to keep us entertained during the flight. I walk down to our gate and plop downnext to Nico.

"Holy crap, man. Where did you learn to drive like that?" I look at him accusingly, like he's had some sick training that I haven't.

"Well, I'm just naturally a bada-"

He's cut off by a voice calling, "Hey! Fancy seeing you here!"

We both look up to see our friend, Jason. He's heading to the Olympics, too, on the Track and Field team, and his sister Thalia, is a gymnast. Leo's greeted with a big hug from Jason as he walks over holding a breakfast burrito from MacDonald's. The poor kid almost spilled his food everywhere.

"Come on man! You almost made me spill my Mickey D's!" Leo exclaims, being the spastic he is.

I've known Jason for a very long time. He and Thalia are like cousins. But my swim team only know Jason. So when Thalia tackles me in a hug and the usual round of questions, Nico and Leo look quite surprised.

"Woah. Who is the girl?" Nico asks confused.

"Dude, that's my sister, Thalia." Jason answers pointedly, as if Nico was supposed to know her already.

Soon, the whole gate is bustling with excitement. The swim team, (Leo, Grover, Nico, and I), the younger side of the Track and Field team (Travis Stoll and Jason), and a gymnast (Thalia) are all crowded around, chatting with each other.

"Hey, Thalia, why are you the only gymnast here? Where are all the others?" Leo asks.

"My friends aren't with me because I, being the good sister I am, booked my flight with Jason. Their flight left an hour ago." She answers.

I shudder internally at the thought of waking up at 4:30. _Girls must be better at getting up early,_ I think to myself.

Annabeth's POV

_BEEEEEEEP_

I jolt awake, courtesy of my alarm clock, and glance groggily at my bedside table. The bright clock reads 4:15am. I get slowly out of bed, not paying attention to anything except for the fact that all I want to do is curl up under my covers and go back to sleep. Still half asleep, I put on my pajama bottoms and look into the mirror.

"Okay, Annabeth. You're going to do great. You will," I say aloud to myself, a brief pep talk. I nod at my reflection, then turn and walk out of the room.

I reach the kitchen and grab the telephone. The rest of the team appointed me to make the wake-up calls. They say I'm the most 'responsible'.

_Ring. Ring, ring._

"Uhh, hi?" A groggy feminine voice answer.

"Hey, Hazel. It's Annabeth. Can you wake up Piper and Clarisse for me while I call Katie?" I ask waking up more and more with every word.

"Ugh, yeah. I'll try my best not to die in the process."

After making another call to Katie, I walk back upstairs. I go to knock on Thalia's door as a joke, but think twice as I realize that's a little mean. Considering she booked a later flight to be with her brother, I decide it would be a really bad idea. If you want to keep your head, you don't mess with Thalia.

Swiftly grabbing my folded clothes off my night stand, I stride into the bathroom. I pull up my custom USA sweats and brush my teeth.

I walk into my room and grab my cellphone. I look around my room, taking in the familiar sights.

_Next time I'm here_, I think, _I'll be a champion._


End file.
